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Registered users can provide information about their [[Genealogical DNA test#Autosomal DNA (atDNA) testing|autosomal DNA test]]s and to link their WikiTree profile pages to autosomal DNA data packages they have uploaded at the [[GEDmatch]] website. GEDmatch publishes links to the WikiTree family trees of individuals who use this feature.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:GEDMatch|title=Help:GEDMatch|website=WikiTree|access-date=2019-08-17}}</ref> Tools on the WikiTree website automatically display persons who took autosomal DNA tests and are within 3rd cousins of each other, allowing the display of several generations of ancestors and descendants who could have contributed to or inherited portions of a person's X chromosome(s), and allow Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA test results to be associated with the position of each father and mother in a person's family tree.<ref>{{cite web|title=WikiTree| url=http://www.isogg.org/wiki/WikiTree |work=International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki |publisher=[[International Society of Genetic Genealogy]] |date=5 September 2019 |access-date=4 August 2023}}</ref>
Registered users can provide information about their [[Genealogical DNA test#Autosomal DNA (atDNA) testing|autosomal DNA test]]s and to link their WikiTree profile pages to autosomal DNA data packages they have uploaded at the [[GEDmatch]] website. GEDmatch publishes links to the WikiTree family trees of individuals who use this feature.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:GEDMatch|title=Help:GEDMatch|website=WikiTree|access-date=2019-08-17}}</ref> Tools on the WikiTree website automatically display persons who took autosomal DNA tests and are within 3rd cousins of each other, allowing the display of several generations of ancestors and descendants who could have contributed to or inherited portions of a person's X chromosome(s), and allow Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA test results to be associated with the position of each father and mother in a person's family tree.<ref>{{cite web|title=WikiTree| url=http://www.isogg.org/wiki/WikiTree |work=International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki |publisher=[[International Society of Genetic Genealogy]] |date=5 September 2019 |access-date=4 August 2023}}</ref>

===Events===
WikiTree runs events that aim on improving the quality and/or quantity of biographical data on the site, often by employing some kind of [[gamification]] to motivate the community.

Among those are monthly challenges, some aim to remove potential errors found by automated data analysis. These errors include dead links, contradicting ages at marriage or birth of children, typos in location names, and others.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Data_Doctors_Challenge |title=Data Doctors Challenge |website=WikiTree}}</ref>

About quarterly there are 72-hour contests in which teams of members strive to either create (Connect-a-thon) or improve (Source-a-thon, Clean-a-thon) as many profiles as possible.

The WikiTree Challenge<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:WikiTree_Challenge |title=WikiTree Challenge |website=WikiTree}}</ref> features week-long events in which a team of volunteer genealogists collaborate on profiles for a special guest star or genealogical society. Previous WikiTree Challenge guests include Wikipedia founder [[Jimmy Wales]], [[Henry Louis Gates Jr.]] of the show [[Finding Your Roots]], [[CeCe Moore]] of the show [[The Genetic Detective]] and writer [[A. J. Jacobs]].


== Reception ==
== Reception ==

Revision as of 10:54, 14 August 2023

WikiTree
Type of businessPrivately-held company
Founded2008
HeadquartersNew York, New York, U.S.
Founder(s)Chris Whitten
PresidentChris Whitten
IndustryGenealogy, social media
URLwikitree.com

WikiTree is a genealogy website that allows users to research and to contribute to their own family trees while building and collaborating on a singular worldwide family tree within the same system.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] WikiTree is free for the user and financed via advertisements displayed to unregistered users.[9][10][11] WikiTree is owned and hosted by founder's company Interesting.com, Inc.[12]

As of July 2023, the WikiTree website claimed to have more than 1 million registered members and reported including more than 35 million profiles of people, with nearly 12 million profiles of people who should share a detectable amount of DNA with tested site members, their deceased relatives, or those whose remains have been tested posthumously.[13][14] GenealogyInTime Magazine listed WikiTree as the 15th most popular genealogy site (out of 100) in January 2016 (the most recent time the magazine produced such a list).[15] As of July 2023, SimilarWeb ranked WikiTree as eighth in total worldwide web traffic among "Ancestry and Genealogy" websites, with visitor statistics including an average visit duration of more than 10 minutes and an average of 10.5 page views per visit.[16]

The site uses a wiki markup language (powered by a fork of the MediaWiki software) that offers users the ability to create and edit personal profiles, categories and "free space" pages to document family history. The concept of a shared family tree can also be found at My Heritage's geni.com, FamilySearch's FamilyTree, and WeRelate, a shared tree supported by Indiana's Allen County Public Library which is also based on MediaWiki.

History

Chris Whitten, the founder of WikiAnswers (originally FAQFarm), developed WikiTree in 2005,[17][18][7][9] inviting users personally to the site, starting in early 2008.[7][9][18]

WikiTree.com officially opened to the public in November 2008.[18] Users needed to be added to "Trusted Lists" (introduced in 2009) for ancestor profiles in order to make any edits.[11][18] All people born over 200 years ago were to be set to "Open".[9]

Upload of GEDCOM files were accepted to the website starting in 2010.[11] In 2012, the upload of GEDCOM files was halted due to issues with users not collaborating on shared ancestors but instead uploading their own duplicates.[18] The formation of projects, and the technology, policies, and style rules around merging duplicate profiles were introduced to handle this issue.[9][18] GEDCOM downloads were enabled in 2013.[19]

The suggestion for an "honor code" was from member and professional genealogist, Pat Richley-Erickson, and was introduced in 2011.[7][18][20] The nine points of the honor code cover; collaboration, accuracy, privacy, copyrights, credit, citing sources, shared mission of "keep information as free and open as possible", "assume that mistakes are unintentional", and "being courteous to everyone".[21][22]

In 2014, the "Problems with Members Process" was created to handle conflict resolution.[7][18] In addition to assisting members with various aspects of the site, volunteers that are part of the "Mentors" project support the incoming requests from this process.[23][24]

In 2015, the Global Family Reunion Project was established, a tie-in to a worldwide family genealogy event that was hosted by author A.J. Jacobs.[25] The Global Family Reunion took place at the New York Hall of Science, located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, on June 6, 2015. WikiTree "relationship finder" tools were available to members to calculate their genealogical connections to Jacobs.[26]

In March 2017, a new rule about automatically opening all profiles of people born 150+ or died 100+ years ago was discussed and put in place in April 2017.[27][28]

Features

The site's goal is to have one profile for every person, whether living or dead. Duplicate profiles are supposed to be merged and the information is consolidated, connecting different family branches in the process.[29]

WikiTree's privacy controls allow users to protect their personal information, and that of their more recent ancestors and descendants, while providing the ability to publicly share and collaborate on historical data related to their more distant forebears.[1][30][31]

Profiles of people who were either born more than 150 years ago or who have been deceased for more than 100 years are mandatory open for editing.[27][28][32] There is a conflict escalation process to help with the resolution of such disputes.[7][23][24][33]

Members must pass a self-evaluated quiz to edit profiles of persons whose birth year is from 1500 to 1699. As of January 2016, a more stringent evaluation, based on a member's demonstrated genealogical experience and ability to work cooperatively, is now required to edit profiles of persons born before 1500.[34]

Members can upload GEDCOM files with genealogical data gathered from personal research and recollections, as well as from non-copyrighted sources available elsewhere on the internet.[11] They can also download parts of the global tree as GEDCOM file.

DNA testing and confirmation

WikiTree supports doing DNA-based genealogy using DNA Ancestor Confirmation Aid (ACA), a tool that allows members to upload the results of their Y-chromosome (Y-DNA) and mitochondrial (mtDNA) tests for purposes of scientifically confirming paternal (male) and maternal (female) relationships within their family tree.[35][36] The ACA is designed to:

  • confirm or reject paternal and maternal relationships over the past five generations (when DNA test results are available for other family members);
  • list relevant DNA tests that would aid in the confirmation of such relationships for family members who have not been tested;
  • show which such relationships have already been confirmed (via comments provided by other tested relatives);
  • identify which relatives should take certain tests in order to confirm or reject such relationships; and,
  • aid in finding relevant resources and other helpful information.

Registered users can provide information about their autosomal DNA tests and to link their WikiTree profile pages to autosomal DNA data packages they have uploaded at the GEDmatch website. GEDmatch publishes links to the WikiTree family trees of individuals who use this feature.[37] Tools on the WikiTree website automatically display persons who took autosomal DNA tests and are within 3rd cousins of each other, allowing the display of several generations of ancestors and descendants who could have contributed to or inherited portions of a person's X chromosome(s), and allow Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA test results to be associated with the position of each father and mother in a person's family tree.[38]

Reception

Researchers in the fields of social and genealogical sciences have made use of WikiTree's data repository. Dr. Michael Fire, Faculty of the Department of Software and Information Systems Engineering at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, utilized the genealogical data available on WikiTree to analyze historical lifespan patterns. Among other results, it was discovered that the average lifespan of females born in the United States and living beyond the age of ten increased significantly from 62.66 years in 1850 to 72.5 years in 1900.[39]

Further research by Dr. Fire, in a joint project with Thomas Chesney, the Nottingham University Business School, and Yuval Elovici ventured into the realm of computational genealogy. Capitalizing on WikiTree's family tree data for quantitative analysis, this study aimed to develop and scrutinize hypotheses related to various aspects of human ancestry. The research delved into a wide range of quantitative analyses, encompassing population sex ratios, marriage trends, fertility rates, lifespan patterns, the occurrence of twins and triplets, migration trends, demographic changes over time, and the intricate connections between historical events and familial relationships.[3]

Apart from those scientific examples, search results on Google Books imply that WikiTree is described and explained in genealogy-related instruction books, but also used as source/reference for non-fiction books. By 2016, local journalists were citing WikiTree as a source of biographical information and photographs.[40][41]

References

  1. ^ a b Jacobs, A. J. (2017). It's all relative : adventures up and down the world's family tree. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 6, 132, 157. ISBN 978-1-4767-3449-1. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  2. ^ Paton, Chris (2021). Sharing Your Family History Online: A Guide for Family Historians. Pen and Sword Family History. ISBN 9781526780300.
  3. ^ a b Fire, Michael; Chesney, Thomas; Elovici, Yuval; et al. (September 2, 2014). "Quantitative Analysis of Genealogy Using Digitised Family Trees". arXiv:1408.5571 [cs.SI].
  4. ^ Rifkin, Jesse (June 7, 2015). "Massive Genealogy Project Shows We Are Family—Literally". The Daily Beast.
  5. ^ Woods, Dan; Thoeny, Peter (2007). Wikis For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. p. 300. ISBN 978-1118050668. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  6. ^ Engler, Sarah (September 10, 2013). "Finding your roots". Real Simple. CNN. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Gaulden, Mags. "WikiTree Day: Kick-Off + Interview with WikiTreer-in-Chief Chris Whitten". YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/ : accessed 4 Aug 2023) WikiTreers Saturday, November 5, 2022
  8. ^ "OKC-area events, news: Christmas in the Park; Broadway comes to OKC and more". Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Oklahoman. August 4, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c d e Cooke, Lisa (January 2013). "101 Best Websites: WikiTree.com" (Podcast). FamilyTree Magazine. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  10. ^ Cooke, Lisa (March 22, 2023). "What is WikiTree with Founder Chris Whitten" (Blog). Genealogy Gems. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  11. ^ a b c d Kennett, Debbie; Pomery, Chris (2011). "DNA and Social Networking: A Guide to Genealogy in the Twenty-First Century". Cheltenham, United Kingdom: The History Press. p. 189. ISBN 9780752472706. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  12. ^ Valenzuela, Robyn (July 12, 2012). "WikiTree App Review". AppAppeal. Archived from the original on September 23, 2014. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  13. ^ Buch, Tommy (July 15, 2023). "WikiTree surpasses 35 million profiles!". WikiTree. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  14. ^ Sheppard, Pip (May 5, 2023). "1,000,000 members passed at 8:57 a.m. Eastern US!". WikiTree. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  15. ^ "Top 100 Genealogy Websites for 2016". GenealogyInTime.com. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  16. ^ "Top Websites Ranking - Most Visited Ancestry and Genealogy Websites". Similarweb.com. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  17. ^ Finkelstein, Seth (February 11, 2009). "What's in a name? Everything, when you're talking wiki value". Kings Place, London. The Guardian.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h WikiTree Contributors. "History of WikiTree", database (https://www.wikitree.com/ : accessed 4 Aug 2023)
  19. ^ Whitten, Chris. "Did you see that you can now export a GEDCOM for an individual tree?", database (https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/ : accessed 4 Aug 2023) Posted Friday, June 7, 2013
  20. ^ Whitten, Chris. "Have you signed the Honor Code?", database (https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/ : accessed 4 Aug 2023) Posted Wednesday, May 2, 2012
  21. ^ WikiTree Contributors. "Wiki Genealogist Honor Code", database (https://www.wikitree.com/ : accessed 4 Aug 2023)
  22. ^ Meece, Mickey (May 18, 2011). "Finding Family History Online". New York Times. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  23. ^ a b Clarke, Greg and Ferraiolo, Chris. "3 Reasons You Should Use WikiTree to Build Your Family Tree". YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/ : accessed 4 Aug 2023) Family History Fanatics, Devon Nicole Lee Friday, November 6, 2020
  24. ^ a b MacEntee, Thomas (November 2, 2010). "Interview – Chris Whitten of WikiTree". GeneaBloggers. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  25. ^ "Global Family Reunion". Out:think Group. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016.
  26. ^ Lambert, David Allen (June 5, 2015). "Twenty-four degrees of separation". Vita Brevis (blog). New England Historic Genealogical Society. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  27. ^ a b Whitten, Chris. "Should all profiles of people born 150+ or died 100+ years ago be Open?", database (https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/ : accessed 4 Aug 2023) Posted Tuesday, March 21, 2017
  28. ^ a b Whitten, Chris. "Did you see that all profiles of people who were born 150 years ago or who died 100 years ago must now be Open?", database (https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/ : accessed 4 Aug 2023) Posted Friday, April 14, 2017
  29. ^ "Duplicates". WikiTree. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  30. ^ Komando, Kim (June 3, 2011). "New Ways to Complete Your Family Tree". USA Today. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  31. ^ Beidler, James M. (June 24, 2012). "Roots and Branches: New genealogical mantra - 'Collaboration'". Lebanon Daily News. Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
  32. ^ "Wiki Genealogists". WikiTree. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  33. ^ "Help: Problems with Members". WikiTree. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
  34. ^ "Pre-1500 Profiles". WikiTree. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  35. ^ Eastman, Dick (June 26, 2014). "WikiTree Announces DNA Ancestor Confirmation Aid". Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter. Archived from the original on August 28, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  36. ^ Fryxell, David A. (August 1, 2014). "Best Social Media Websites for Genealogy". Family Tree. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  37. ^ "Help:GEDMatch". WikiTree. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  38. ^ "WikiTree". International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki. International Society of Genetic Genealogy. September 5, 2019. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  39. ^ Fire, Michael; Elovici, Yuval (March 2015). "Data Mining of Online Genealogy Datasets for Revealing Lifespan Patterns in Human Population". ACM Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology. 6 (2). Association for Computing Machinery: 1–22. arXiv:1311.4276. doi:10.1145/2700464. S2CID 2742636. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  40. ^ Neufeld, Rob (December 12, 2016). "Hawkins revealed 1790s state of mind". Asheville Citizen-Times. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  41. ^ Hollifield, Scott (April 5, 2022). "She Served Her Country: A Plucky One". The McDowell News. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
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